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Elizabeth Warren unveils sensible affordable housing plan

2019-07-08T15:45:00-04:00

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has unveiled a modest affordable housing plan that would work to improve existing development mechanisms in an effort to increase the supply of affordable housing across the country.

Arguing that "government at all levels hasn’t done enough to tackle our housing problems over the past few decades," Warren recently reintroduced her 2018 American Housing and Economic Mobility Act in the United States Senate. The act, which forms the basis for Warren's affordable housing plan, falls somewhat short of some of the more structurally-oriented housing proposals put forth by competing presidential candidates, including New Jersey senator Cory Booker, but aims to improve the existing system nonetheless.

First and foremost, Warren is pushing to increase the supply of affordable housing nationwide by embracing some of the principles of the Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY) movement by compelling cities to change their zoning codes to make it ea...

Elizabeth Warren proposes "Green Marshall Plan"

2019-06-04T14:33:00-04:00

On Tuesday, the Warren campaign released its most comprehensive climate plan yet, a $2 trillion package that commits the federal government to spend $150 billion a year over the next decade on low-carbon technology, increases energy research funding tenfold and funds a $100 billion Green Marshall Plan to aid the poorer countries projected to suffer the worst as global temperatures rise.

In specifically identifying a post-World War II-style Marshall Plan-like aid package aimed at assisting international countries lower their carbon emissions, Warren's plan seeks to go further than the other Green New Deal-style visions put forward by competing presidential candidates.

In a Medium post announcing the plan, Warren writes: “The climate crisis demands immediate and bold action. Like we have before, we should bank on American ingenuity and American workers to lead the global effort to face down this threat — and create more than a million good jobs here at home.”

Warren's plan includes the creation of a new "federal office dedicated to selling American-made clean, renewable, and emission-free energy technology abroad and a $100 billion commitment to assisting countries to purchase and deploy this technology." The effort, according to the Massachusetts senator, would help to address global carbon emissions that will need to be eliminated after the US reaches net-zero car...

Elizabeth Warren co-signs letter urging feds to investigate sharing economy

2016-07-14T13:18:00-04:00

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D), the senior Senator from Massachusetts, has co-signed a letter requesting that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate the degree to which short-term lodging services are composed of "persons or firms acting in a commercial manner by renting out entire residences or multiple residences simultaneously".

The letter, co-authored by Senators Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Diane Feinstein of California, marks a major move by lawmakers towards intervening in the so-called "sharing economy".

“[W]e are concerned that short-term rentals may be exacerbating housing shortages and driving up the cost of housing in our communities,” the Senators state in the letter.

The letter brings up concerns about racial discrimination with Airbnb, and questions the economic impact of the company. Studies have found that Airbnb contributes to rising rents and housing shortages.

h/t the Guardian

For more on the sharing economy, check out past coverage:

Falling through the sharing ec...